We’re hiring like crazy at the moment. Both our Console (Alien IP) and PC (Total War) teams are growing, and there are so many new opportunities arising, we can barely keep count.

Maybe you’re a skilled developer looking for the next challenge. Maybe you’re looking for a rewarding job in an awesome location.

Take a look at our current job listings here, and check back over the next few weeks as we update those listings with new positions.

If you want to find out a bit more about us, you can do so here.

Interested? Drop us a line here.

2011 was a massive year for CA. We opened a new, state-of-the-art studio  to house our console team, and added 20 brilliant new people to both our console and PC teams, many from illustrious backgrounds with the likes of Crytek, Rockstar and Ubisoft Montreal.

2012 is going to be even bigger.

We’re hunting for the very best people to fill pivotal posts on both our development teams. From rising stars to the enormously experienced, we’ve roles to suit a wide range of experience levels and disciplines, and we’ve got a lot to offer in return.

Check out our current vacancies here. And for more information on The Creative Assembly, take a look at our brochure.

Do you want to make impossibly exciting games? In a non-corporate, rewarding and enormously creative environment?

Get in touch. We’d love to hear from you.

The games media are running their annual Game Of The Year awards as we speak, and Total War: Shogun 2, which we launched to critical acclaim in March, is storming the Strategy categories.

PC Gamer awarded Shogun 2 Strategy Game of The Year 2011 in their January issue, and are joined by such august online outlets as…

Gamespot - Strategy Game of The Year

Kotaku – Best Game Music of 2011

Gametrailers - Best Strategy Game of The Year

The Register – Top Ten Games of 2011

What a great end to an amazing year! Needless to say, we’re chuffed to bits. And with that, we’ll doff our toppers and wish you a very merry Christmas!

We’ve released the third and fourth pieces of DLC for Total War: Shogun 2 – the Blood Pack DLC and the Hattori Clan DLC.

The Blood Pack is something of a departure from previous releases, all of which have avoided gore to prevent affecting the age rating of the core game. Releasing the item as DLC allows it to be rated separately, thus side-stepping the issue.

Blood and gore is absolutely right up there in the top-three feature requests from the community (mod tools and commanding more than 20 units per battle are the other two big ones, if you’re interested). We get hundreds of requests a year for us to implement blood and gore into our games – and we’ve been desperate to get the opportunity to bring this feature to the Total War series.

Jamie Ferguson, Lead Designer for Shogun 2, tackled the challenge with gusto:

“With the Blood Pack we were going for a Kurosawa, Zatoichi and Tarantino-esque level of splatter-fest fun that evokes a number of the Japanese films set in the medieval period.

“This might seem strange for a game that prides itself on a certain level of realism, but we wanted the player to be able to tell what was happening at a reasonable distance from the action and be entertaining. By turning up the gore factor we found it was far more entertaining and had a certain style to it too.”

It’s available for purchase right here.

We are delighted to announce that the official stand alone expansion for the critically acclaimed, Total War: SHOGUN 2™ will be available from March 2012.

It is 1863, and the age of the Samurai is coming to a close. The masters of sword, bow and horse face a period of massive change as a new Japan is born to the bellowing of cannon and the shriek of steam engines. The modern, Victorian world of Europe and America is battering at Japan’s gates, bringing revolutionary new weapons to the country: weapons which will sound the death-knell of the Samurai class. This new world can be shut out and tradition upheld, or it can be embraced and mastered. Into this upheaval, a new, Imperial movement rises up against the old Shoguns, attempting to restore the Emperor as rightful master of Japan. Will you back this rising Imperial power, or the Shogunate of old? Choose your path, and carry the country with you in the final battle for Japan’s future: the Boshin War, the War of the Year of the Dragon.

This massive-scale, standalone expansion to Total War: SHOGUN 2 offers a completely new experience to players. Six new playable clans, including those supporting a modern imperial Japan such as the Satsuma, and those allied with the old Shogun like the Nagaoka, are now available. Three great foreign powers must also be dealt with: America, Britain and France all have a vested interest in Japan’s future. How will you treat them? All this plays out across an expanded and improved campaign map, covering new island provinces in the far north and featuring all-new building and technology trees as well as brand new features such as railways and naval bombardments, seen for the first time in a Total War title.

As well as the upgrades to the campaign map, brand new units and abilities are also added to Total War: Shogun 2’s epic battles. On Land, thirty nine new units are introduced including Gatling guns, US Marines and British Royal Marines. War at sea also changes, with ten new ship types including massive, artillery-bearing steamers, torpedo boats and mighty Ironclad battleships, allowing you to call naval artillery strikes directly into land battles. Coastal batteries can also attack your shipping, so watch out for well-defended ports!

With three new agent types on the campaign map to choose from, four new historical scenarios, brand new siege-battle mechanics and a huge upgrade to Total War: SHOGUN 2’s multiplayer game, the list of additions is as epic as the conflict in Total War: Shogun 2 – The Fall of the Samurai.

Fight one last time for Japan’s future, as the age of the Samurai comes face to face with the explosive power of modern weaponry. The fate of all Japan is in your hands.

Total War: SHOGUN 2 pushes forward the hugely successful Total War series by perfecting the features from previous games such as full 3D land and naval battles and a detailed campaign map, whilst adding an exciting new multiplayer experience. Total War: SHOGUN 2 released in March 2011.

For more information about the game, please visit www.totalwar.com

In aid of Children in Need – a yearly British charity appeal organised by the BBC, we have taken part in a variety of fun activities to raise money.

The first of which is a costume theme lottery. After making a donation, everyone got to reach into the “Hat of Mystery” to reveal one of 16 fancy dress themes, including Superhero, Disney Character, Musician, Game Character, Sci Fi, Action Film, Cartoon character, Musical, Animal, Sport, Literature, Historical Figure, 1950’s, 1960s, 1970s and 1980s!

Once a theme had been drawn, they were allowed to pick any costume within that theme to wear in the office. So for example, someone drawing 1960’s could simply wear clothing from that period, come as a celebrity, film, musician or anything else from that decade. To make things more interesting, we then had everyone in costume gather on stage at our monthly studio meeting to show off their attire.

In addition to this we did a charity cake sale, where everyone sold their home cooked cakes to raise money. We then proceeded to eat said cakes in our fancy attire. Fun was had by all and for a very worthy cause.

To date we have raised almost £600 for Children in Need. If you would like to get involved or donate to the charity, please click here.

Today is of course the 1^st of Movember, which means that men across the land are growing moustaches to raise money for charity. We also have a dedicated team of facial hair cultivators at The Creative Assembly who are taking part in the action. Coming to the studio freshly shaven today, they will leave their stubble untouched for the next month, resulting in magnificently crafted lip rugs on 30^th November. Everyone is a winner!

If you would like to show your support for our mo bros, please donate generously here.

To help all you ghosts and ghouls to celebrate Halloween, we have created a special Total War wallpaper for you to download. Featuring a lovely scene of an undead skeleton army during a nuclear apocalypse, it is sure to leave you spellbound.

Click here to get the high resolution 1920×1080 wallpaper and right-click to save it!

To celebrate Total War: Shogun 2 being nominated for Best Strategy Game and Ultimate Game of the Year at the Golden Joysticks, we are running an exciting competition to win one of six places at an exclusive Total War event at our studio. Full details of the competition and how to enter can be found here.

It would be greatly appreciated if you could all show your support by voting for us!

After each game we traditionally do a post mortem to discuss how the project went, any issues that occurred and proposed solutions for next time. For Total War: Shogun 2, we have evolved this process into something new and more affective.

Dividing a wall into three areas – “not started”, “in progress” and “executed”, cards are then placed and prioritised. Once completed, the entire wall will be covered in 174 separate cards with feedback from the entire team. New cards can be added at any time, meaning that this ceases being a post mortem and becomes a continuous intra vitam.

Thought you might enjoy this little peak into our development process.